Composer: Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi
Performer: Höör Barock, Ensemble Altapunta, Ensemble Lundabarock, Kristina Hellgren, Christine Nonbo Andersen, Anna Zander, Johan Linderoth, Daniel Åberg, Ann-Margret Nyberg, Karl Peter Eriksson, Maria Forsström, Steffen Bruun, Rasmus Gravers Nielsen, Staffan Alveteg
Conductor: Fredrik Malmberg
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Release: 2021
Size: 1.86 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Monteverdi: L’Orfeo
CD 01
01. Toccata
Prologue
02. Dal mio permesso amato
Act I
03. In questo lieto e fortunato giorno
04. Vieni Imeneo, deh vieni (1)
05. Muse, honor di Parnaso
06. Lasciate i monti (1)
07. Ma tu gentil cantor
08. Rosa del ciel, vita del mondo
09. Io non dirò
10. Lasciate i monti (2)
11. Vieni Imeneo, deh vieni (2)
12. Ma s’il nostro gioir
13. Alcun non sia
Act II
14. Ecco pur ch’a voi ritorno
15. Ahi caso acerbo (1)
16. In un fiorito prato
17. Tu se’ morta
18. Ahi caso acerbo (2)
19. Ma io ch’in questa lingua
20. Chi ne consola ahi lassi?
CD 02
Act III
01. Sinfonia
02. Scorto da te, mio Nume
03. Ecco l’atra palude
04. Dove, ah dove te’n vai
05. O tu ch’innanzi morte
06. Possente spirto
07. Sol tu, nobile Dio
08. Ben mi lusinga alquanto
09. Ei dorme
10. Nulla impresa per huom
Act IV
11. Signor, quell’infelice
12. Benchè severo e immutabil fato
13. O degli habitator
14. Quali grazie ti rendo
15. Pietade oggi
16. Qual honor di te fia degno
17. Ahi vista troppo dolce
18. È la virtute un raggio
Act V
19. Ritornello
20. Questi i campi di Tracia
21. Perchè a lo sdegno e al dolor in preda
22. Padre cortese al maggior uopo arrivi
23. Saliam cantando al Cielo
24. Vanne Orfeo, felice a pieno
25. Moresca
L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) is often described as the first opera. The composer himself used another term for his work, however: ‘favola in musica’, a musical tale. Taking this as their point of departure, the performers on the present recording place the emphasis on the libretto’s direct narrative, and how the music alone is used to express emotions, a music which underpins the plot and the text word for word. To quote the liner notes: ‘To modern ears the musical heritage of L’Orfeo is more to be found in the Lieder tradition than in the grand opera of the nineteenth century.’ The tale told by Monteverdi and the members of the three ensembles which bring his score to life, is that of Orpheus, the poet and musician who travels to the Underworld in order to persuade Hades to let his beloved Eurydice return to the living. Under the direction of Fredrik Malmberg, and with Johan Linderoth as their Orfeo, the 38 singers and musicians that make up Ensemble Lundabarock, Höör Barock and Ensemble Altapunta perform a score which in 1607 was state-of-the-art contemporary. Four full centuries after the first performance in Mantua it remains almost shockingly modern, as in the sound of cornetts and trombones that summon up the spirits of the Underworld or the portrayal of undiluted, raw grief in Orfeo’s celebrated aria Possente Spirto.